


Parallel Justice

by Anubis (fatiguedmona)



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, M/M, No Metaverse (Persona 5), Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 21:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19472440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fatiguedmona/pseuds/Anubis





	Parallel Justice

_“The Phantom Thief…? You’d like me on this case?”_

_To say that Akechi was surprised would be an understatement. When Sae had called him into join her on a case of hers, this was the last thing he expected. “_

_Precisely. Our more well-known detectives and officers cannot be put on this case, afterall, he has been targeting members of the police force lately. The higher-ups decided it would be best for some of the newer members to take on this case,” Sae said. “They put me at the helm of this, and I’d like for you to be my second in command. You’re sharp and we get along well from our previous endeavors. Also, you’re young, so I doubt this phantom thief will have much of an interest in targeting you. What is your say, Akechi-kun? It’s come to my attention that you aren’t on another case currently…”_

_"I’m honored, Sae-san. I accept.”_

~~~~~~

It had been months since Akechi had been put on the case, and there had been no breaks since. Five more high ranking officials had been targeted, two of them officers in the very police station he currently worked at, and yet there was no trace of the culprit. No clues or hints whatsoever. His methods were unknown; hidden dirt on politicians and officers suddenly coming to light, evidence bringing brought to the public’s attention, as well as victims of the crimes coming forward. Akechi and his team interrogated several of the victims who came forward on their abusers, but the information they gave them was limited. But without any known communication between them, they all told the same story of how the phantom thief anonymously contacted them. Beyond that, they refused to say. How he knew or how he contacted them was still a complete mystery. Akechi had everything they knew about the phantom written down on a large piece of paper. Wide, red lines were all over the place, connecting pictures and blocks of text. He had everything mapped out, yet there were no leads. No one knew anything about the thief, and the people who had even the slightest clue refused to narc against them. And although everyone referred to him as “he”, they weren’t even sure of the culprit’s gender, or if it was just one person behind the crimes. He leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose. This is so frustrating, he thought. The door behind him creaked opened.

“No advancements, huh?” He didn’t need to turn around to know it was Sae. He could also sense that she was crossing her over her chest with a piercing gaze. Upon turning around, he was correct.

“No, unfortunately. I can’t seem to think of anything new, the same thoughts just keep repeating over and over again. Perhaps we could try to bait him...?” Akechi sighed.

“I was thinking something similar, but without his methodology or reasoning, I’m not sure how we would go about that.” Sae seemed defeated as she sat next to him. Silence settled between them as they stared at the paper in solace. Sae suddenly sat up, her eyes tired.

“I need coffee. Kurusu-kun!” The secretary popped his head in the doorway.

“Yes, Sae-san?” Akechi couldn’t help but notice how awfully cute he was, with his big grey eyes blinking from behind his glasses.

“Kurusu-kun, could you bring the two of us coffee?” Sae said without looking at the boy.

“On it.” He disappeared from sight. Akechi softly shook his head when Sae started going over all of the facts all over again. It was going to be a long night.

~~~~~

Indeed, it was an incredibly long night. So much so that Sae had left the station hours ago, and yet Akechi still sat there at his desk and continued to stare at the paper, as if the answer would jump up from the page if he looked long enough. The world had gone dark around him, the large glass windows showing the dark sky illuminated by thousands of lights in Tokyo. The room was dim, a single desk lamp being the only source of light. The silence was truly deafening as everyone had already left for the day, or so he thought. Akechi jumped out of his seat when he heard footsteps behind him, thinking he had been alone all this time, and being quite startled when he saw Kurusu standing in the doorway.

“Ah-! Oh, um...m-my apologies, Akechi-san. I didn’t mean to scare you, I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You’ve been here for a while,” Kurusu said, trying to cover up the fact that he was a bit shaken up. Akechi relaxed.

“No, I’m sorry, Kurusu-kun. I...I have been here for a while, you are correct. I suppose I’m just a bit jumpy, my apologies. Do you need something?” Akechi really hated that this was his first time speaking one-on-one with the secretary, especially when he was undoubtedly disheveled and out of his own head. Of course, despite the fact that Kurusu had been at the station just as long as he had, he still looked just as cute, with his messy black hair and wide eyes. Kurusu smiled politely, shaking his head.

“No, no. I just wanted to see if I could help you with anything, that’s all.”

“Ah, that’s quite generous of you, thank you. Say, Kurusu-kun...what time is it?”

Looking at his watch, he said, “A quarter past midnight, sir.” Akechi shook his head and silently cursed. The trains had stopped running by then, and his apartment was awfully far away. How could he be so careless?

“Right. Well, um, thank you by the way. I...I guess I’ll be sleeping here tonight. Thank you for checking up on me.” Akechi turned to turn off the desk lamp when Kurusu spoke.

“Are you sure, Akechi-san? I’m sure you could make it home alright. I could call a taxi?”

“Oh, no that isn’t necessary but thank you. My apartment is on the other side of town, so it’ll only be a hassle. It’s my own fault, I should’ve kept the time in mind if I wanted to go home. How about you, Kurusu-kun? How will you get home? Will you be alright?”

“My place isn’t far from here; I’ll walk, but thank you.”

“Ah, I see. Safe travels.” Akechi stopped for a moment. “Actually, Kurusu? If you don’t mind my asking...what are you doing here at this hour? The other secretaries never stay this long.”

“Oh! Yes, I...I guess you and I were in the same boat. I was filing paperwork and such, and I guess I just lost track of time.” Akechi just nodded, too exhausted to think about whether he was telling the truth or not. His mind was so foggy he dismissed the topic. Kurusu seemed to try to hide a look of worry on his face as he wished Akechi goodnight and left the room.

~~~~~

“I’m sorry Futaba, I couldn’t get anything today.” Akira Kurusu stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind him. As expected, Futaba was typing away at her PC. She turned around in her chair with an angry look on her face.

“What? Are you kidding me? What did you screw up?” she demanded while vigorously petting Morgana.

“It wasn’t my fault! A detective who’s investigating the case decided to sleep there, and I didn’t want to risk him catching me. I’ll try tomorrow,” he explained. Futaba grumbled something quietly as she turned towards her multiple monitors.

“Have you made any progress from your end?” At least that made her smile.

“Hehehe. Our target's got a lot of dirt on him. Apparently, he paid the media to not make any reports about his misconduct. Looks like a hit for us.” On her screens were tons of pages and reports on the target, nearly all of it from her hacking into databases and online records.

“Things are going along smoothly then. I'll check the station tomorrow. Hopefully, Akechi won't stay the night again. I'll try to persuade him into leaving early.” Akira continued, “Is there anything else we should look into?”

“Yep. I found out that he used to have a wife; they're divorced now. But when I looked into the legal reports, she had a restraining order placed on him after filing for the divorce. There might be more stuff that wasn't reported, but we'd have to get in contact with her” “Luckily for us, I've already tracked her down. I was thinking about contacting her tomorrow, the same time as your infiltration at the station. Sound good, Akira?” He silently nodded. He scratched behind Morgana's ears and started walking to his room.

“Oh Akira!”

“Hmm?”

“Who's Akechi? You mentioned him earlier.”

“Oh. He's a detective looking into us. He's the reason why I couldn't look into the database tonight.”

“Hmm...gimme his full name. I wanna look into him.”

“Goro Akechi. He's pretty young, so I doubt you'd find much on him. Why?”

“I'd like to know who's on our investigation, and I might as well after I looked into Sae.” He nodded again before turning around and freezing in place as a thought dawned on him.

“...hey Futaba?”

“Yeah?”

“I just thought of another way we can get more information.”

“Oh? Do tell.” She snickered.

“Well, I just thought of it when you mentioned Akechi and…”


End file.
